ducaticorse
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Soooooo.... What did you pay for it?!!!
need your opinion on a vermeer bc1400
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Soooooo.... What did you pay for it?!!!
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
Soooo....... What'd you pay for it?!!
opcorn:
$13,500. the the hydro shoot adjustment is fixed everything is good to go. Vermeer lubed everything up real good. I should be getting it delivered on wednesday after i get back from the tree symposium in lancaster.
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
Congrats!
Capt. Blye
ArboristSite Lurker
Bc1400xl
I have an 06 bc 1400 xl and love it. Honestly, the machine sounds abused. However, sometimes the price is right, so.... find out what exactly caused the crack in the "drum hull". There is a 3" square solid steel cutting bar just aft of the drum. The bar is held by a bolt on both ends and is desinged to be adjustable. When one of these bolts falls out the bar slides into the spinning drum and the knives break off and go where ever they want. Sometimes this totals the machine! Check the cutting bar for wear and knife marks( they'll be obvious). As for the hours, a competitor has an older model, 02 maybe, and he feeds whole trees into it with his bobcat. I think he has over 6000 hours on his and hasn't rebuilt engine yet. Also, don't count on the chute turret working properly for prolonged periods of time. It's a design issue. I made sure mine was manual turning when purchased. * Make sure you put it under a load with 12" trees far a while befor purchase or agree to a month or week warranty or something. It can be difficult to tell what your buying sometimes.i Brakes are another overlooked issue. tires/knives/cutting bar/idler pulley/giant belt drive/etc. You should take the right panel off just above the fender and inspect.(it's only 3 bolts and takes 2 min). plan on steam cleaning the radiator annualy and blowing it out every 2 weeks. I know these machines too well. good luck
I have an 06 bc 1400 xl and love it. Honestly, the machine sounds abused. However, sometimes the price is right, so.... find out what exactly caused the crack in the "drum hull". There is a 3" square solid steel cutting bar just aft of the drum. The bar is held by a bolt on both ends and is desinged to be adjustable. When one of these bolts falls out the bar slides into the spinning drum and the knives break off and go where ever they want. Sometimes this totals the machine! Check the cutting bar for wear and knife marks( they'll be obvious). As for the hours, a competitor has an older model, 02 maybe, and he feeds whole trees into it with his bobcat. I think he has over 6000 hours on his and hasn't rebuilt engine yet. Also, don't count on the chute turret working properly for prolonged periods of time. It's a design issue. I made sure mine was manual turning when purchased. * Make sure you put it under a load with 12" trees far a while befor purchase or agree to a month or week warranty or something. It can be difficult to tell what your buying sometimes.i Brakes are another overlooked issue. tires/knives/cutting bar/idler pulley/giant belt drive/etc. You should take the right panel off just above the fender and inspect.(it's only 3 bolts and takes 2 min). plan on steam cleaning the radiator annualy and blowing it out every 2 weeks. I know these machines too well. good luck
thanks i'll check that out with the cutting bar. I never thought to look at that. I've been thinking of asking for some kind of warranty so I can run it for a while a to see if it has any issues.
Bigus Termitius
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yes you do. Great idea with a temp warranty and putting it under a load first.
We lost knives twice in about a year on the ROW, and the first time the drum hull took some hits, didn't crack though, the second time the access door and upper rear corner took some shots.
The way I, and Vermeer, wanted it fixed, it was going to be around 5k. That's new drum, bearings, etc. The owner and I ended up finding a local fab shop to extract the bolts from the drum blocks, and replacing cutter bar, bolts and blades. Very cheap in comparison. And it worked out fine. I was a bit nervous at first, but they are tough units. We ate trees by the truck load. It was nothing to dump two or three times a day when we couldn't blow into the ROW.
If it did take a hit, I can't imagine them reusing a cutter bar, but maybe. If it was rotated and flipped, it might be hard to tell there, but there should be plenty of ear mark carnage on the drum, hull, and access door. Very likely that this kind of thing did at least spawn those cracks.
As a result of my experiences, and conversations with Vermeer, I advise using Vermeer blades and bolts. Vermeer frowns on the after-market crap, and I've seen why first hand. Vietnamese blades and chinese bolts don't cut it in the long run...pun intended, but it is hard to convince some people. I've seen them work out fine, and I've seen them fail. However, I was also not allowed to follow the recommended intervals, and that could be the greater contributor. This is why I ended up getting an extra set of blades and bolts in case I needed them and was ignored again.
Those days are over, thank God, but I can't wait to get another one for myself. I've got first dibs on the unit the power company owns. The only difference is that it has a Deere.
Is there supposed to be any space between the the two infeed rollers? I noticed that there was about a two to three inch space between the two rollers. I looked at other chippers on you tube and didn't see any space.
Bigus Termitius
Addicted to ArboristSite
Naturally there is some space, but shouldn't be much. Pop the rear hood, release your springs using a small section of rope, and slide your rollers all the way out. Debris will build up on the insides of the tracks that the rollers run on, while they are wide taking in wood. That causes an ever increasing gap that especially becomes noticeable once it won't take little stuff as well anymore. I used to dig them out with a screw driver when lubing the tracks daily or as needed. Then I plumbed in an airline off the truck and just blew it all out after that.
If you find no debris and the rollers are in as far as they go, that's as good as it gets. I imagine that it had some stuff frozen or hardened in there, doesn't sound like much though.
alpineman
ArboristSite Member
Infeed roller spacing should be easy. I agree with the above posting to open it up and clean out all the debris out of the tracks. If that doesn't work, you might need to replace the springs. They can lose tension over time.
bandit 990xp
So i've decided to squash the idea of getting this bc1400xp. Too many hours and just have the feeling im gonna be sticking money into it down the road. I got quoted a price on a brand new bc1000xp of $26800. Seems like good price just dont think the 1000 is worth paying that for. They were gonna give me a 1 yr warranty on the machine and a 3 tr warranty on the drum. No warranty on the engine which is more important than the drum to me.
So I went to the bandit dealer and he quoted me on a 2010 990xp with approxmatly 50 hrs on the machine for $25800. The machine has a 85hp perkins engine telesoping tongue, and hydro lift cylinder a feature the vermeer doesn't have. It has a 1 year warranty on the machine and a 5 yr warranty on the engine and axle. No drum warranty which really doesn't concern me too much in a new machine. The financing interest rate is much better than vermeer too. I think i'd be better off in the long run with this machine over a vermeer.
So what do you think?
So i've decided to squash the idea of getting this bc1400xp. Too many hours and just have the feeling im gonna be sticking money into it down the road. I got quoted a price on a brand new bc1000xp of $26800. Seems like good price just dont think the 1000 is worth paying that for. They were gonna give me a 1 yr warranty on the machine and a 3 tr warranty on the drum. No warranty on the engine which is more important than the drum to me.
So I went to the bandit dealer and he quoted me on a 2010 990xp with approxmatly 50 hrs on the machine for $25800. The machine has a 85hp perkins engine telesoping tongue, and hydro lift cylinder a feature the vermeer doesn't have. It has a 1 year warranty on the machine and a 5 yr warranty on the engine and axle. No drum warranty which really doesn't concern me too much in a new machine. The financing interest rate is much better than vermeer too. I think i'd be better off in the long run with this machine over a vermeer.
So what do you think?
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
I'm a huge fan of bandit. I rebuilt my 150 from the floor up, and it's been good to me. I like the dealer network, although all chipper dealers are expensive, bandit seems to really have their stuff together.
I think you'll get a bunch of colorful responses to this question, but one thing I'll agree with you on is to stay away from that particular vermeer, at the price you were going to pay.
I'm waiting to get my new bandit now, heck, I don't even want to do anymore jobs till I get it here since they will be so much easier to clear with the increased size and power...
The only thing that I will reinforce, is what you already know. And that is to buy what you need, or forecast needing in terms of size and power.
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Bigus Termitius
Addicted to ArboristSite
I rented a 1000 last fall for a weekend just to demo. It was in fine shape, ran good, but I didn't like anything about the design, or the job it did. Once you've had a 1400, or something like it, you are ruined.
You probably made a good choice passing it up for that price. I wouldn't pay that if they made all the repairs and upgrades the switches. Not with those hours. To me, that drum needs to come out and all the cracks need welded up right. Then with new bearings, I might consider it....especially if it had a Deere.
Nothing wrong with a good bandit.
You probably made a good choice passing it up for that price. I wouldn't pay that if they made all the repairs and upgrades the switches. Not with those hours. To me, that drum needs to come out and all the cracks need welded up right. Then with new bearings, I might consider it....especially if it had a Deere.
Nothing wrong with a good bandit.
I figure anything will be a big step from the chuck o duck i've been running. I ran the bc1000xp and it seems the right size chipper for me. I do about the same amount of pruning as I do removals. The larger diameter wood I can easily find homes for. Even with the 990xp I will be able to chip much more larger wood than my chuck o duck. I think this will be a great entry level chipper into the self feeder world. I will take care of this chipper and have it for a long time.
Bandits just seem like an all around better built more sturdy chipper than the vermeer. Plus the hyro lift cylinder is an awesome feature that the bc1000xp doesn't come with. Not to mention an expensive feature that im getting on this bandit at a way better price than the vermeer.
I have looked at morbarks and I have much respect for them. I use to run one where i worked before I went on my own. The closest dealer is in bloomsburg pa. They just seemed outrageousely over priced. The dealer was trying to sell me a 12" drum style chipper (I believe it was twister) demo unit from 2008 and he wanted $27000 for it. I had been sitting in the yard for a couple of years. This just seemed like a rip-off for something that oldeven though it had low hours.
ducaticorse
Addicted to ArboristSite
I ran a 2100D for a week last month, and I was less than impressed with the configuration/processing speed. The owner did however report that he had to do no repairs to it while he has owned it.
If it at least had a wider feed chute for big brush, I woulda liked it more.
So what are ya saying? I am saying that i would take a Morbark over Vermeer any day.
Jeff
But that is me.
Jeff
But that is me.
